The present invention relates to a locking device for a telescoping pole, or rod, intended in particular to equip a retractable handle system. The invention relates more particularly to a locking device in which the telescoping pole has at least one moveable section slideably mounted in a guide member having at least one opening intended to receive a locking member carried by a body that is fixed to the moveable section.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,846 discloses a retractable handle system in which the handle is mounted on telescoping poles, or rods, each having a moveable section slideably mounted in a guide member. In this patent, the moveable section can be locked at different heights by means of a locking device having a locking member carried by the moveable section and engaging, under the force of a spring, in an opening provided on the telescoping guide member. To permit unlocking of each telescoping pole, there is provided a button that acts, through the intermediary of a rod means, on the locking member in a manner to displace the locking member in opposition to the spring and to disengage it from the opening.
Telescoping poles, or rods, of this type have, however, the drawback that they include a moveable section that must be mounted in its guide member with a sufficient play to avoid excessive rubbing between the pole and the guide member, in order to permit easy actuation of the pole by the user. As a result, there is a poor connection of the telescoping pole at the joint between the movable section and the guide member leading to a warping, or bending, of the telescoping pole when weight is applied on the handle and provoking possible clicking noises when this handle is subjected to vibrations.
French patent number 2 870 693 proposes a solution to these drawbacks by disposing a bearing in the guide member and mounting the moveable section substantially without play in this bearing.
However, such a solution requiring use of a bearing presents the drawback of being costly to produce.